


Make Things Caffeinated and Complicated

by kankuwu



Category: Naruto
Genre: birthday gift for my girlfriend btw!, doodlingleluke on tumblr, flower shop/coffee shop au, kankuro is a barista and gaara owns a flower shop, she's great uwu, the summary makes it sound angsty but its mostly fluff lmao
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:47:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25407151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kankuwu/pseuds/kankuwu
Summary: Kankuro and Gaara have been separated since they were young kids, growing up in separate cities with no way to contact each other. Now, 15 years later, Kankuro stumbles upon his brother accidentally. Can they pick up where they left off or has their father severed that connection forever?
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

The sun had already fallen over the horizon by the time Kankuro emerged from the Araiansu Civics Center. Every Friday night for the past two months, Kankuro, along with a group of friends, would meet up here to build model trains. It wasn’t a hobby Kankuro initially thought would be fun in a group setting, considering most of his building was done locked away in his room in complete silence, but he was pleasantly surprised by how enhanced his experience has become. 

Usually, Kankuro would arrive with a model train already built to perfection. He would sit around and watch everyone else customize their models. He was constantly in awe of all the different ways everyone would freestyle based on their templates. After every meeting, Kankuro would leave inspired to try something new and out there. He wasn't afraid of going off model, it just wasn’t something that he considered. 

That same feeling of inspiration stayed with Kankuro tonight as he sauntered home in the dark, model train tucked under his arm. Along with their weekly meetings, they also held a monthly model train set competition. This was where all of those customizations really shined. Kankuro never had the chance to enter. His tiny apartment that he shared with his sister didn’t have the room to hold a full size railway set. And even if it did, it would be too much of a pain to take it back and forth to the civics center. Instead, Kankuro would bring his newest model to show off before joining the crowd ( or small gathering ) of model train enthusiasts to admire the sets he could only dream of making. 

“Fuck, I need to get my own apartment!” Kankuro said. He whipped out his phone from his pocket, the light of the screen illuminating his face from below. He flipped through his photo album as he turned down the street. At least the most recent 50 or so photos were of nothing but trains and their sets. A few group shots with his friends and his own train and some pictures of other people’s phones where they showed off the trains and sets they wished they could have brought but didn’t. 

Eventually Kankuro made it to his corner, a modest apartment complex at the city limits of Araiansu. It was late so most of the lights were off, say for a few night owls like himself. He stayed on the sidewalk for a few more moments, admiring the photos on his phone before sighing and tucking his phone away. 

It’s not like he couldn’t afford a model train set! After their father died, Kankuro and Temari received a hefty inheritance from their father’s company and insurance. It wasn’t enough to make them rich but the stress of paying rent on time was all but extinct now. He promised himself that he would be responsible with it.  _ ‘Don’t blow it all on crap!’ _ his sister nagged at him the moment they were handed their checks. Kankuro rolled his eyes at the thought, as if he was that irresponsible to blow thousands of dollars so easily. Even now, almost half a year later, his bank account was still heftier than he could ever imagine. A model train set wouldn’t make that much of a dent. Getting a new apartment for just himself and his model train set, now that was putting their father’s money to good use!

Just the thought of his own place with enough space to indulge fully in his hobbies was too much for Kankuro to bear. He grinned from ear to ear just thinking about it, making a mental note to go to his computer immediately and see just how close his dreams actually were. He bounced up the stairs to their floor. He juggled his train to dig through his pockets. The left jean pocket, then right. Back, his jacket pockets, his apron pockets, his front pockets again. 

Uh oh.

Oh  **_fuck._ **

Kankuro danced around as he searched his pockets again and again, patting them down just in case his fingers just weren’t reaching deep enough. It didn’t take long for Kankuro to realize that he was locked out of his apartment, with his keys nowhere on his person. He looked around on the ground in front of their door. Maybe it fell as he was looking? Maybe on the stairs? The sidewalk? He ran all the way back down to the street, using his phone’s flashlight to search the grass and concrete. Nothing. Fucking nothing. 

Did he drop it on the bus? Maybe at the civic center? If it was in either of those places, he could count them as long gone. There was no way he would be able to find his keys on the bus. What were even the chances of him finding the same bus! As for the civic center, if one of his friends picked them up, he was sure they would have texted him by now. Or at least came to his apartment to drop them off. Maybe a janitor found them and put them in the lost and found. That would make it easy to retrieve but it did nothing for him tonight. The civics center was closed by now. 

With a sigh of defeat, Kankuro opened his messages and immediately started to text his sister.

temari  
  
**Today** 9:37 PM  
hey when are you coming home  
  
i lost my keys so im locked out  
  


Of course there was no immediate response. He kept his eyes glued to the screen for a few moments in anticipation that maybe she was on her way home right now. Just down the street. Better yet, maybe she was inside waiting to scold him about how irresponsible he is and how she’s tired of bailing him out. He’d take that over sleeping on the concrete tonight. 

_ ‘Don’t be dramatic.’ _ he reprimanded himself.  _ ‘She’s going to come home eventually. At worst you’re just stuck out here for a few hours.’  _

It was enough for him to sit down at the bottom of the steps and just relax. His mood was officially ruined. He wasn’t even sure pictures of trains would be able to cheer him up. Just as he mumbled another curse, his pocket buzzed and he jumped to answer it. 

omoi  
  
**Today** 9:49 PM  
dude did you check out that instagram i showed you yet?  
  
they just completed a new model! you have to check it out  
  


Maybe he spoke too soon. 

The excitement didn’t last long after a few scrolls through social media. His ass hurt already from sitting on the cool cement . He was still wearing his work uniform which sucked. It was bad enough he didn’t have time to change before he went to his meetup, now he has to smell like coffee for who knows how much long. He leaned back on his elbows before his stomach started to growl.

Great, now he’s starving. 

“Okay, that’s enough complaining for tonight!” he said to no one, thankful that nobody was walking by at the time. He stood up, checked his phone one last time, tucked his train under his arm and started back up the street. 

-

Taking the bus probably would have been easier, but he didn’t want to travel that far back into the city. Plus, why waste bus fare on boredom. He lived close enough to be able to enjoy most of the luxuries city life had to offer. Expensive coffee, sky high rent, rats, shitty public transports. Y’know the works. 

Oh, and some nice restaurants. He was sure his favorite burger joint was still open. Nothing like a double stack steak burger with large fries to cheer him up. At least, it would if his wallet wasn’t also attached to his keys which were now missing. Kankuro resisted the urge to smack his palm against his forehead, cursing his eagerness to leave work in a hurry that he didn’t double check his things. 

Wait, work. 

He stopped right before a crosswalk, mentally noting how dumb it was that he didn’t just cross the street before he started typing. 

tenten  
  
**Today** 10:03 PM  
please tell me i left my keys at work  
  
lmao i was wondering what poor sap forgot his keys  
  
you coming back to get them?  
  
nah temari's gonna be home soon. i'll get them in the morning  
  
alright. see you tomorrow :P   
  


At least he didn’t have to worry about never seeing them again. Still, knowing where they were didn’t help them right now and Temari still hadn’t replied yet. Might as well keep walking. 

This walk would have been better if the sun was out. He wasn’t creeped out by how dark it was. He was more disappointed that everything was either closed to closing. So many of these shops and restaurants he’d never been in despite living just a few blocks away. Most of these buildings were old run down houses that were repurposed into small businesses. There was a comic book store, a bike shop, some restaurants Kankuro had to assume were family owned. Even a dentist practitioner. Kankuro was thoroughly impressed with what he saw and made a mental note to come back when the sun was up and his wallet was on him. 

A few more paces down and Kankuro came across a couple more small buildings. One of them was empty with a huge “FOR SALE” sign in the window. The other was claimed and had been transformed into a flower shop. That was still open. At this hour?

People buy flowers this late? 

Kankuro wouldn’t call himself a plant person and he was sure no one else would either. He didn’t exactly have a green thumb. It was nauseous looking yellow at best. He could have a plant if he really wanted to but that was the problem: he never really wanted it. He remembered when Temari brought home a bouquet of flowers for the kitchen. Just to jazz up the place or whatever. He didn’t directly kill them and he knew cut flowers didn’t last that long anyway. But he could have sworn they died faster after he changed their water. It couldn’t be proven but he was certain. 

Still, despite his lack of interest in plants, he had to admit that the shop looked very cool. It was another old house that had been repurposed as a business. The windows were flooded with greenery. Kankuro couldn’t begin to name the types of plants he saw just sitting there. There were hanging plants outside, leading up the staircase. On the door itself was a welcome sign and above that, on the roof, was a wooden sign that read “A Thorn In Your Side”

“...huh.” Was the only response Kankuro had for that name. Despite everything about his past with plants, Kankuro shrugged and stepped towards the shop, resisting the urge to knock before entering the house. The sound of a bell rang as he opened the door. 

“Hello?” Kankuro said as the door shut behind him. He entered what he assumed to be a dimly lit living room, and in a way it still looked like that. There was furniture on the perimeter of the walls. A couch, a loveseat and a few chairs around a table. The middle of the floor held a giant dinner table. In place of food was succulents, the only plants outside of basic flowers Kankuro could confidently recognize, roses, some daisies. He gave up trying to guess what they others were but he stared in awe at their colors. There were plants spilling over the table like ivy (maybe it was ivy?) speckled with white. There was a larger plant with pink bursting from the center, climbing its way across the leaves. Did one of those plants have glitter on it? There’s no way that’s real. 

Walking around the table, Kankuro could see a desk that functioned as a check out against the back wall. On the left side of it was a doorway leading into another room. As he started to walk towards it he started to feel a bit out of place. The house was small but it was also cluttered. The tables and chairs and displays had decent amounts of space between them but that wasn't the issue. He probably would have preferred the risk of stubbing his toe on a chair to the alternative that he was in now. 

Many of the leaves in here were so large and wide spread that they were spilling well over their displays. Kankuro sucked in what he could (which wasn’t much) just to avoid brushing against them too much. Spoiler alert, it didn’t work. He lifted his model train above his head just to keep his arms out of the way but that just led to a new problem. The hanging plants. Maybe he should just keep his hands out in front of him. Or maybe he should just leave since it was late. 

It had only been a few minutes but no one had come out to greet him. Maybe they were in the back trying to close up? Unless they thought they already closed the front and wasn’t expecting anyone to be in here. But the door rang so they had to know that––

“Augh!” Kankuro’s foot stubbed against something hard and he toppled forward. His train snagged on a hanging plant, ripping it from its hook and sending it crashing towards the floor. If he hadn’t rolled over the moment he fell, he wouldn’t have seen it and he was sure he wouldn’t be alive right now. Landing next to his head with a hard thump, the pot cracked and shattered, spilling dirt onto the hardwood floor. 

He didn’t breathe, in shock just how close to death he had come. Maybe that was a sign  _ he really shouldn’t be in here. _ On his back now, he looked towards his feet and saw a messy pile of fertilizer peeking from until the table. The culprit. 

Next to it was another plant that had fallen in his clumsy wake, its pot spared but the plant not so much. 

For the second time tonight, Kankuro had to resist the urge to smack his palm against his forehead. Before he could stand up and find a way to fix his mess, footsteps started to echo towards him. The lights above him were brightened and Kankuro saw in the mystery doorway behind him a guy who looked very unamused. 

Kankuro sat up as the man approached him, looked sheepishly at the broken pot then back at him. “Uh, I’m sorry. I just tripped. It's kinda dark in here.” He stood to his full height as the man approached him and stopped just short to pick up the broken pot pieces. 

“I can pay for it! Uh,” Kankuro immediately started to pat at his pockets. He paled as he remembered his whole reason for wondering here in the first place. No wallet. No money. “Okay, I can’t pay for it tonight but I can come back–”

“It’s fine. We’re closed anyway.” The man took the broken pieces he picked up and dropped them into a nearby trash bin. He brought the trash bin over to the pile and started to remove more of the pot. 

Above him, Kankuro looked down in shame. He stared as the guy cleaned up his mess. It was the first time he actually bothered to really look at him. He had a shaggy cut of bright red hair. It didn’t look natural and Kankuro was almost positive it wasn’t. He was shorter than him, at least by a foot. His lacked eyebrows but in place of one of them was either a scar or a tattoo. Either way, interesting placement. He looked vaguely familiar. He managed to catch a quick glance of his name tag. 

“Shu?”

He looked up at Kankuro, his expression tired, at no shortage due to the bags under his eyes. “Do you need directions to the door?” 

“No, I just feel bad leaving you with this giant mess. Um,” With a quick glance around the room, Kankuro spotted a broom and dustpan. He walked over and grabbed them both, coming back to sweep up the dirt that spread further into the room. “Here. That way you don’t have to stay much longer.” 

Shu stood up, dusting his hands of fertilizer and dirt. “Thanks.” 

“Is Shu your actual name?” Kankuro asked. He couldn’t think of anything else to say while he was sweeping. He already felt like he was taking up too much space. At the end of his question, a cat sauntered in from the same back room. It rubbed up against Shu’s leg before he gently pushed him away from the pile of dirt. 

“No. It’s my cat’s name.” He picked up the real Shu. “Thought it would be funny.” 

“Heh, that’s kinda cute. The cat, having a name tag and all.” 

The Imposter Shu pet the real one’s fur and it purred and snuggled into him. “I’m going to get a mop.” He said and disappeared further into the house. 

Kankuro continued sweeping. He picked up the plant as gently as he could from the pile and sat it somewhere else on the floor. Soon the trash bin was full of dirt and broken ceramic, the only evidence of an accident being dark grainy streaks on the floor. 

Imposter Shu was back, alone this time, with a mop bucket. Kankuro backed up as he started to mop up the remainder of the dirt, save for what fell between the floorboards. 

“So, is this shop new? I don’t think I’ve seen it before.” Kankuro said to fill the silence. Shu looked up at him, his mopping never pausing. 

“We just opened a week ago.”

“We? You and Shu?”

“Shukaku.” He squeezed the mop of its excess into the bucket, standing proper now to admire his work. “And no. A couple of friends and I.” 

“Oh, that’s cool. I guess running an entire business by yourself would be a lot of work. Especially in the city.” 

Shu reached for the broom from Kankuro. It was his turn to take in the stranger before him. The most noticeable thing was the apron he was wearing. Across it was a logo for “A Shot in the Dark”. 

“You work at a coffee shop?” 

“Huh?” Kankuro looked down at his uniform , now covered in dirt. “Oh, yea. It's downtown. Small family owned shop. The coffee is pretty good.”

“Hm.” Shu sat the broom against a wall. “Are trains part of the aesthetic?”

“What?”

Shu pointed at the model train tilted on its side on the floor. Kankuro blushed then picked it up, tucking it back under his arm. 

“No. This is just uh, a hobby. Was hanging out with some friends.”

“Then wandered into my flower shop to trash the place?” 

Kankuro smiled sheepishly. “Sorry about that again. But no, I got locked out of my apartment and I'm waiting for my sister to get home. She’s running late.” On instinct, he pulled out his phone to check the time. 

10:45 pm.

Very late. 

Luckily, a text from his sister came in.

temari  
  
**Today** 9:37 PM  
hey when are you coming home  
  
i lost my keys so im locked out  
  
**Today** 10:46 PM  
jfc kankuro im down the street  
  
don't get mugged before i get there  
  
lmao thanks sis  
  


He grinned. “Good news, I'm now free to get out of your hair. I mean, you could have kicked me out if you wanted to but,” He put his phone back into his pocket. “I kinda wanna come back when you’re actually open. I think I have some friends who would wanna come just because of the name.”

Shu smiled a bit at that. 

Kankuro began to walk towards the exit, paying closer attention to the floor this time so he wouldn’t trip. When he got to the door, he stopped and looked over his shoulder.

“By the way, my name is Kankuro! In case you happen to stop by my job.” Kankuro didn’t stay long enough to get a reaction. He stepped outside and started to run home, hoping to beat Temari before she got there and locked him out on purpose. 

If he had turned around, he would have seen Shu’s eyes widen at that name, his mouth opening only to be met with the closing ding of his door. 

*

*

*

That was definitely his brother, right? Unless there was another Kankuro that resembled their father also living in this city. At least he kinda looked like Rasa. It was late and Gaara was tired and irritated from the broken flower pot. He wasn't exactly paying that close attention to his face. But that name...it had to be him. 

Gaara continued to roll that possibility over in his head as he jogged down the steps, Shukaku trailing eagerly behind him. It was 7 am, the sun was barely up, but the city was already starting to bustle. 

Gaara was lucky that these houses were up for rent when he decided to move here. It was a modest two story house, the exterior still showing the time period in which it was built. The inside wasn't doing much better but looks wasn't the main selling point. 

Having two floors in a house was perfect for three poor early 20-somethings who were trying to be entrepreneurs and pay rent. Most of the bottom floor, they converted into the flower shop. The top floor was for living and it was easy enough to keep them separated. 

The biggest issue was the kitchen. It didn't take much more than keeping the door closed but sometimes people got too nosy. Often he would walk back to see the door slightly cracked or someone reaching for the knob. Getting a lock for the door would solve the anxiety of that problem, if not much else. 

The other issue they hadn't had the discomfort of running into yet was people stopping by late at night demanding them to open up. Again, this wasn't a huge issue but sometimes one of them would walk downstairs late at night just to see a few late night walkers peeking into the windows and standing on their porch. 

As annoying as it was, the idea of renting a whole separate apartment that would probably cost the same amount (or more) and having to commute back and forth was more unappealing.

Gaara made his way to the kitchen which was located behind the stairs. It would be another two hours before they opened but there was a lot to do still, especially since he was currently by himself. 

Top of the order was to feed the cat. Shukaku was a chunky Bengal that he’s owned for at least the last 10 years. Despite his age, Shukaku was just as demanding of attention and food as any other kitten. He was already twisting his way through Gaara’s ankles by the time they made it to the kitchen. Gaara filled his bowls, leaving the cat to attend to the rest of the shop. 

Despite being by himself this morning, Gaara wasn’t worried about having to manage everything by himself. As he mentioned the night before, this was a shop created by more than just him. A friend he met in his teenage years, Ino, and his boyfriend, Lee, all pitched in for this place. It was really Gaara and Ino’s business since they were the only two of the trio that actually cared about plants. Lee, aside from having boyfriend perks, was there mostly for heavy lifting purposes and to help make rent cheaper overall. It was a win/win situation.

Gaara closed the kitchen door as he entered the actual shop part of the house. Located next to the door was a watering can and a few spray bottles. They didn’t have an abundance of plants, at least not by his standards. Even with two rooms full, there was still a lot of space. Despite that, he couldn’t downplay the amount of work it took to care for what they did have. 

He started in the back of the second room, which used to be a dining area, watering and spritzing the plants accordingly. He was happy he didn’t sleep often. Being able to wake up early enough to care for the plants before they opened was great but doing so alone was still challenging. He paused after the first set and sighed at the rest of the room and the room after that. 

Then his phone buzzed in his pocket. 

He pulled it out and read the notification before unlocking it.

ino  
  
**Today** 7:35 AM  
what do you mean your brother came to the shop?!  
  
  


Gaara sat his watering can down to give her the full story but before he could finish typing, another text came in. 

ino  
  
**Today** 7:35 AM  
what do you mean your brother came to the shop?!  
**Today** 7:37 AM  
hold on im coming back to the shop tell me more then  
  


He shrugged at his coworker’s replies before putting his phone away again and continuing on with his work. 

\- 

There was still about another hour before the flower shop was set to open. The plants were watered, the cat was fed, and Gaara was still thinking about his impromptu family reunion last night. He should be excited to finally have met with at least one of his siblings again, right? 

So why were his feelings so conflicting?

Gaara didn’t feel anything sour towards his siblings. He was old enough to understand that their separation was out of all of their control. His isolation growing was not because his siblings didn’t want to be with him and even if it was...well, he was sure it wasn’t. 

Still, that didn’t fix the fact that he barely knew them. Even if he had recognized Kankuro immediately, what would he have said? 

_ ‘Hey big bro! Long time no see?’ _

Even in his head that sounded unnatural. 

They talked like strangers last night because, essentially, that’s what they were. And that kind of hurt to think about. 

Before they were separated, Gaara remembered being really close to his siblings, specifically Kankuro. It could be because they were closer in age or maybe because they were both boys but he remembered a bond between them that felt strong and timeless. Kankuro, from his memories, was kind and fun. Kind of weird. Idiotic but, aren’t all kids? 

All of his playtime ideas were stupid but they were also the most entertaining. Kankuro was a prank master, at least as much as a seven year old child could be a master at anything. Looking back, they weren’t that great or well thought out. They often failed miserably but Kankuro always took all the blame. Even when it meant their father yelling at him or locking him in his room. Kankuro would always come back to him with a smile that could make any rainy day feel like the sunshine. He was always being helpful. Always trying to look out for him. Kind of like last night. 

Gaara tapped his fingers against the register desk as he stared down the clock. Shukaku purred beside him. 

“45 minutes, Shu.” The cat just curled up tighter where it sat at his feet. Gaara leaned back in his chair and yawned, preparing to spend the next hour sitting here alone and waiting. Maybe he should open up early?

Before he could fix his mouth to answer his own question, a knock came from the door. Outside one of the front windows, his business partner, Ino, stood waving at him. 

“Hurry up and let me in! I need to shower!” She called from outside, ignoring the looks and stares she got from passersby. 

Gaara stood up to let her in. Shukaku shifted as his rest was distrubed to allow Gaara to move from his place. Gaara unlocked the door and pulled it open wide, allowing Ino to slip in.

“Did you forget your key?” Gaara asked.

Ino shimmed off her jacket, rolling her eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous. I just didn’t feel like pulling it out.” It was now Gaara’s turn to roll his eyes as he closed the door and locked it again.

Ino made her way towards the kitchen, dropping her bag and jacket over the cashier desk as she passed. Sending a kiss towards Shukaku, she came back with a bottle of water and her hands on her hips. 

“Alright, so where is he?” she asked.

Gaara perched an eyebrow and gave a quick look around. Was he missing something?

“Visiting his father?” 

“Not your boyfriend!” She slammed the water bottle down on the desk, exasperated. “Your brother! Is he here?”

“Why would he be here? We’re not even open yet?” 

Ino waved her hands around in the air, dismissing that piece of information. “I don’t know, overnight brother bonding? That stuff happens, right?”

Gaara crossed his arms. “I think you’ve been reading too many YA novels.” He was met with a side eye as she walked back into the adjacent room.

“Some of them still hold up, y'know.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” He followed her into the room. He grabbed her water bottle from the desk as he went. 

“So, tell me what happened? Was it like a dramatic reunion? Did you cry? Did he cry? Was there hugging? Did you talk all night? Come on, talk.” 

His face scrunched up at all of that. He didn’t want any reunion to go like that. “No, there was no crying. Just a broken pot and a quick clean up session.”

“He broke a pot?” She grabbed her water bottle from him, opening it and taking a sip. “Didn’t know your brother was a vandal.” 

“It was an accident. He tripped. It wasn’t that serious.” 

She shrugged. “Well, was he impressed when he saw that his little brother was the owner of this shop? I bet he was proud.” 

Gaara’s arms crossed over his chest. “I don’t see why he would be proud of a stranger.” 

She stopped mid sip. “What do you mean, ‘stranger’?” 

“I mean,” he walked to a corner and sat down in one of their vintage arm chairs. “He didn’t recognize me. Not even a little bit.”

“What?” She screwed the cap on her bottle. “What kind of asshole doesn’t even recognize his own brother? Are you okay?”

Gaara shook his head. He didn’t want her to think of Kankuro that way, even if that is a bit of a dick move. But he couldn’t place all of that on just him. 

“The kind that hasn’t seen his brother in over 15 years. Plus, I didn’t recognize him either. We’re both assholes.” 

Now Ino was just confused. Her hands went to her head, pushing back her bangs as her fingers brushed through her ponytail.    
  
“Wait, so how do you even know it was him? You could have just met some guy last night.”

“His name was Kankuro.” 

“Okay, and?”

He bent over in the chair, his elbows resting on his knees. “How many Kankuros do you know? If it's more than zero, color me impressed.” 

“I mean, I don’t know any personally–”

“Yea.” He cut her off

“–but! We also just moved to this city like two weeks ago. Who knows how many Kankuros are in this city. I met a Lee at the bar last night and I promise he looked nothing like your lanky dream boat.” 

Gaara stood up then, walking past her in the room. “I know it was him. Looking back, it just makes sense.” 

Ino opened her mouth to counter but she could see that he was beyond convinced. There was no technicality that she could say that would make him doubt that the man he saw last night was his older brother. So she sighed. 

“Well, what was he doing here if he didn’t know it was you?”

“He got locked out of his apartment. Was waiting for his–  _ our _ sister to get home and let him in.” He didn’t think it was too funny last night but now it was nice to know that his brother was just as goofy and absentminded as when they were kids. It meant that something never changed and maybe–

Ino interrupted his thoughts. “Are you gonna go find him? Well, I guess you can't, huh? If you didn’t know it was him, it would be weird to have gotten his contact info.”

“I didn’t realize until he was already out of the shop, so no contact or address.” It would make sense for Kankuro to live nearby. He didn’t see why someone would wander so far away from home if they were locked out without their wallet. But still, that didn’t point them in any clear direction. 

He knew his brother was into trains based on the model he had in tow last night but what was he supposed to do with that? Go to a train museum every day until they ran into each other? Did one even exist in this town? Did train museums exist anywhere? 

But wait, wasn’t he wearing a uniform?

“Coffee.” He blurted out. 

“Uh, sure I’ll take some before we open.” Ino answered.

“No. My brother. He works at a coffee shop downtown. He was still in uniform last night.” 

“Ooo a barista!” Ino purred. “I like a coffee guy.” 

Gaara pulled out his phone, ignoring her weird shift from thinking his brother was an asshole to revealing her weird fetish for guys who make coffee. He pulled up a browser and typed into the search bar “A Shot In the Dark”.

“I found it. It’s close and they just opened.” 

Ino almost jumped with glee. “So, you’re going?”

He paused. Was he going? Now? Today? It was his only lead to see his brother and it was too much to bet on them meeting accidentally again. But would it be too much to just show up unannounced? And what would he even say?

He was back at square one. 

“I..” He looked down at the address. “It’s 20 minutes away from here.” 

“Okay?” 

“We open in 30 minutes. I wouldn’t be able to make it back before we open.” He argued. 

“So? I’m here now. All I have to do is take a shower and then I'm good! Besides, it's not like we’re that busy this early anyway.” Or at all, really. But that was the consequence of being a new business. 

Still, Gaara hesitated. This clearly wasn’t about just leaving her alone to manage the shop and they both knew that. Still, he had to argue. “What if something happens?”

“Oh my god!” Ino marched towards him and pushed him towards the other room. “Look, I get that you’re nervous but I'm not going to let you use me as an excuse to not go see your brother. Clearly you want to! You looked up his job immediately!” He blushed. 

“You have an address. I'm here to watch the shop and Lee is still out of town visiting family. You have nothing to stop you from going right now. Just go, even if it's just to be sure that it’s him, okay?” 

He couldn’t think of any other counterarguments. Even if he could, he knew it would be energy wasted. 

“I'll go just to be sure.” he said. 

“Good.” She said. She gave him a reassuring smile and thumbs up, reminiscent of his boyfriend, Lee. “You got this. Now I’m gonna go shower and you need to beat morning traffic.” He nodded as she walked away, jogging up the steps to the living part of their business. 

There was no more stalling. They were already 15 years late of having a proper reunion. He put his phone back in his pocket, unlocked the door and grabbed his keys. 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this too so long i was depressed lmao next (and final) chapter will hopefully be next

Traffic wasn’t as dense as he thought it would be. Looking at the clock in the car, he guessed 8:30 was a little late for the morning rush. That or it was a special holiday that no one was telling him about. Either way, outside of a few cluttered traffic stops, Gaara cruised his way into the Araiansu downtown area.

This was the first time Gaara was actually downtown, at least on purpose. He remembered having to drive through just to get to their new home. However, the first time, it was late and dark and he was exhausted. All he really remembered from that drive was the flashing of lights overhead, glimpses of businesses and residences flashing across his rearview window. When he got home on that first night, after lugging his suitcases from the car. He remembered taking a look back into the city from his street. It was so bright and foreign. 

It was perfect. 

A new place just for him. Except, it wasn’t just for him. His siblings, a connection to his past, were here as well. Parts of his life that were taken from him and parts that he wanted to forget. He gripped the steering wheel a bit tighter as he came to a halt at the stop sign. 

He wanted to forget how his siblings were ripped from him, the first friends he ever truly had. They understood him. They loved him. And yet their father...Rasa–

A honk from a car signaled him to pay attention and get moving. Fuckers. It was only like 10 extra seconds. 

Anyway, Rasa decided that a healthy family unit wasn’t for him and it wasn’t for Gaara either. Their parents divorced when Gaara was five and that was the initial split. Kankuro and Temari were sent with their mother, Karura. Gaara stayed with Rasa and his uncle, Yashamaru. Within 6 months, Karura was dead. A health complication that she’d been battling for years. Although morbid, Gaara remembered hoping that his siblings would come back home afterwards but they didn’t. A family friend took them in instead. 

Gaara probably could have had an okay childhood after that but then his uncle committed suicide, putting Gaara back under the care of his father. “Care” was being generous. 

Gaara shook his head, erasing the memories from his mind. He didn’t need the negativity of his past infecting what was to come. 

His siblings were back. They were here. And from the looks of it, they were happy. At least, Kankuro was happy. Maybe Gaara could be happy with them. 

He frowned. 

_‘Let’s not be overdramatic.’_  


Gaara took a left turn, the final instruction from his GPS. He looked down the row of buildings on the right. There weren't too many skyscrapers in this part of town which was interesting considering the skyline. It's funny how the outline of a city can give you a completely different impression than what’s actually there. 

He passed a few restaurants and hotels, a bank, and a very upscale coffee shop –– all filled with people. Even this early in the morning, there were people on the street. Every other bus stop he passed had passengers waiting to board. There were people running down the street, both in a rush and for leisure. 

Down a bit further, in between a hotel and a restaurant sat the shop. In large writing across one of the windows “A Shot In The Dark.” Gaara pulled into the parking lot. He pulled into the furthest spot from the door, turned off his car and sat there, his keys still in the ignition. 

Sitting in your car for 15 minutes outside of a coffee shop, staring at a barista that was at least 50 feet away from you was weird, right? Even if that barista was your long lost brother that you haven’t seen over 10 years? Surely there was a grace period for this kind of stuff. 

Gaara had worked up the courage to at least turn off his car, no point in wasting gas on indecision. He was going in. There was no doubt about that. Yet his key stayed between his fingers, ready to be reinserted and start the car up again. He took a deep breath.

 _‘I’m going to go in.’_ he thought. _‘I have to. I have to. I...need to check my text messages.’_

Immediately he pulled out his phone and tapped on his messages icon. There were no new messages aside from Ino’s coffee order. For a moment, he was tempted to text her, telling her that he was coming back. Maybe he could lie and say that his brother wasn’t here. Plus there were a million other coffee places in this city, she wouldn’t care where he got it from. He pulled up the keyboard and started to type. 

‘I’ll get your coffee somewhere else. He’s not here.’ 

He typed it out but didn’t hit send. It felt wrong. Was he being a coward? Was there such a thing as being brave in this situation? It was just a meeting. Just looking someone in the face. There was nothing brave or scary about that and yet.

His finger hovered over the send button and he frowned. 

“What the fuck am I doing?” He muttered to himself. _‘This is my chance to be happy. This is my chance for a better life. Everything can change today.’_

One side of himself wanted to roll his eyes at the dramatic speech but the other side didn’t care. If being dramatic is what it took to get him into that coffee shop and to the counter, then so be it. Let’s get fucking theatrical. 

*  
*  
*

Coming into work this morning was fucking rough, Kankuro was impressed he even made it in on time. Once he got home, of course Temari gave him a speech about “being responsible” and “taking care of yourself” and whatever other pseudo-life coaching adult nagging she could think of. Kankuro sat through it until she unlocked the door for him. He listened to her as he shuffled off his jacket, kicked off his shoes, make himself a midnight snack then slammed his bedroom door to fucking crash. He was surprised he didn’t wake up to a bunch of text messages continuing where she left off. 

Instead of more nagging, he woke up to his alarm screaming at him. 7 am on the dot. He picked up his uniform off the floor, gave it a sniff and got dressed. He grabbed his shoes, phone, keys….no. At work. He grabbed a banana or something instead, he didn’t bother to really look, and headed out the door.

He did end up getting a text from his sister one his way to work.

temari  
  
**Friday** 9:37 PM  
hey when are you coming home  
  
i lost my keys so im locked out  
  
**Friday** 10:46 PM  
jfc kankuro im down the street  
  
don't get mugged before i get there  
  
lmao thanks sis  
  
**Today** 7:46 AM  
I’m not going to be home until really late so make sure you have your keys!  
  


He rolled his eyes, typing out a “i will” before shoving his phone back into his pocket. 

His commute was never long. At least, he assumed it could be worse if he actually had a car and needed to sit through the downtown traffic. It took about 30 minutes to get from his apartment to the coffee shop, 55 minutes if the public transit system was just in a bad mood. Today put him somewhere in the middle and he walked through the door with barely 30 seconds to spare. 

“You’re late!” Call one of his coworkers from across the shop. Kankuro’s hand was just lifting from typing his number into the timeclock, right at 8 am. 

“Not today, bunhead.” He called back. Leaning on the counter was TenTen. She’d just been promoted to a manager position so Kankuro was used to her teasing and threats. He knew she wouldn’t actually mark if he was late.  
She rolled her eyes as he walked closer to her. “One of these days I’m going to get you. You’re cutting it close. You’ll slip up. One day.”

“Yea right. I haven’t been late once since I started working here and if you think I’m going to give you the satisfaction of calling me out,” He leaned onto the counter , his fingers spreading apart against the counter top, “you’re delusional.” 

She leaned back, a smug and challenging look on her face but she didn’t say anything else. “Your keys are in the break room by the way. Did you have fun sleeping in the gutter last night?” 

He nodded, walking to the back. “Found the warmest slab of concrete I could find. Pretty sure I made some new friends too. A couple of sewer rats. Said they were related to you?” 

“Haha.” 

When Kankuro came back from the breakroom, keys hooked to a lanyard around his neck, TenTen was walking back from unlocking the front door. 

“Today is supposed to be a slow day but I heard traffic was terrible. Hinata’s not coming in for a couple more hours.” TenTen said. 

The shop officially opened at 8:30 am on the weekends, an hour after their weekday opening time. The weekends were never super busy but Kankuro wouldn’t describe them as slow either. Most of their crowd came later in the day, all the coffee snobs, students looking for a decent place to work and study, people who were too busy to stop by during the week, and of course the white collar crowd. 

The good thing about working in a family owned shop is that they were never truly packed. Starbucks was just around the corner, so most of the traffic just missed them. They usually got the overflow or just very loyal customers who liked their aesthetic better. 

Kankuro watched people shuffle by through the glass windows. No one had entered yet despite the short amount of time that passed since their doors opened. Kankuro sighed, a smile on his face. 

“I’m sure there's nothing we can’t handle.” 

There were indeed some things they couldn’t handle. The first 30 minutes were chill. A few people came in, some regulars, others just a quick grab and go. Kankuro was able to handle that by himself. But by the time the next hour came around, it was like someone unleashed a flood gate of coffee drinkers.  
Kankuro bounced back and forth between the coffee machines and the counters. There wasn’t a moment when he didn’t have at least two cups of coffee in his hand. That wasn’t even to mention the customers who actually came here to eat. He was happy it wasn’t customary to have full blown meals served at coffee shops or he would have died. Popping a few bagels in a toaster or a sandwich in the microwave was cool. For now. 

Hinata had arrived towards the end of the next hour. Kankuro barely noticed her as she pushed her way through the line to make it to the counter. He offered nothing more than a quick “hey” and a look of help. Soon Hinata was beside him, hair tied up and apron secured around her waist as she manned the registers. At first it seemed like her presence made no difference. It just made their working space more crowded. Kankuro couldn’t count the number of dings he heard from the door opening. He hoped at least some of them were because people were leaving. 

“We’ll be with you in a minute!” he called out every so often. Customer service and all that. Whatever stopped them from revolting from not being fast enough. It wasn’t until Kankuro looked up at a clock that he remembered to breathe. An entire hour had passed and he didn’t even notice. 

“Jesus Christ…” Hinata sighed next to him. She handed him the last order of the hour, the final customer in the never ending line. “We did it!” 

Kankuro called out for the customer, a relieved smile on his face as he looked around. The lines were gone and you wouldn’t even be able to tell that they were ever busy. Only half of the tables were full. He gave a thankful nod to the customer who took their drink then looked over at Hinata. 

“Thank god you came in early, huh?” 

Tenten nodded. “I was so nervous I would have to call you to get here earlier. I guess we just got lucky.”

Hinata re-tied her ponytail, brushing her bangs out of her face. “My appointment didn’t take as long as I thought it would. It's just a good thing I didn’t go directly home.”

“Wait, I thought you had a vet appointment. If you didn’t go home, where’s the cat?” Kankuro asked. 

“Hanabi came with me. I told her to take the car back home and I just took the bus here.” 

They both nodded in understanding, grateful regardless that she was able to make her way here to save their asses. 

Tenten stretched and grabbed a cup, filling it up with water. “Well, I’m gonna go check on some orders for the rest of this week. Try to hold it down and if it gets crazy again, yell.” She waved as she disappeared towards the back room, leaving them alone. 

“So,” Hinata started. “I heard you got locked out last night.” 

“Tenten told you?” 

“Maybe.”

A customer came up just as Kankuro sighed. A tall macchiato. Nice and simple. He continued as he made the order. “People get locked out all the time. I don’t see how this is big news for you.”

“It’s not.” Hinata said as she completed taking his payment. “Just be careful. It’s scary to be locked outside all night.” 

“I wouldn’t have been locked outside all night. Temari would have come home _eventually_.” He finished the drink and handed it to the man with a smile. “Enjoy!” He called as the man walked away. 

“Still.” She grabbed onto the keys around his neck, giving them a playful yank. “Keep these safe. And if you get locked out again, call me. You can crash at my place.”

Kankuro shook his head. “There is no way I’m calling you at 11 pm for something like that.” 

“And there’s no way I’m letting you sleep on the sidewalk.” Hinata said. There was a sternness in her voice and Kankuro couldn’t help but back down. 

Hinata was usually a very gentle soul. Very soft spoken. It took a while for his ears to get used to listening to her low volume. She was also extremely caring and kind but not a pushover. At least, not anymore. He didn’t know her when she was younger but he heard things. Things that weren’t important to dwell on and he could tell she was a much stronger person now. So when she told him that she would take care of him, he knew she meant it and he knew there was no point fighting about it. 

“Fine.” He gave in just as the door opened with a ding. “But it doesn’t matter because I’m not losing my keys again.” 

“We’ll see.” Hinata mumbled as she turned toward their newest customer. “Welcome to A Shot in the Dark! What can I get you?” 

Kankuro sighed as he turned to start up the machine and rinse out the pitcher for the new order.  
“Just a green tea and a tall caramel frappe.” Kankuro heard the order so Hinata didn’t have to repeat it. It made him laugh a bit, though. He couldn’t remember the last time someone asked for tea despite the fact that they had an extensive selection of it. This wasn’t a tea shop though so he was sure most people just looked it over. Despite that quick amusement, Kankuro did recognize the voice and curiosity about this dedicated tea drinker got the best of him. 

He turned around just as the customer was about to pay and was pleasantly surprised. 

“Oh shit! It’s you from the flower shop!” He waved as if he was talking to an old friend. He leaned next to the register, a giant smile on his face. “Sorry about what happened last night, again.” 

The guy looked nervous but Kankuro didn’t look too much into it. He figured all of the attention he was giving might have been weird. The guy has only been here for like a couple weeks at best. He probably wasn’t looking for an annoying clumsy barista as a best friend. 

“Is the frappe for Shu or are you drinking both by yourself?”

The guy stared at Kankuro intensely. It's like he was studying his face. Looking for something Kankuro couldn’t put his finger on. 

“No.” he finally answered after what felt like an hour though it was probably just a few seconds. “It’s for my roommate but you can put my name on both.”

“And what name will that be?” Hinata asked, either oblivious to the weird tension between Kankuro and this customer or being really good at her job to not let it bother her right now. 

Kankuro decided to let his unrequited quips fall and go back to preparing the drinks. Still, he felt a stare on the back of his head and it sent a shiver up his spine when he heard the name.

“Gaara.”

Kankuro turned around a bit too fast. Their eyes met and suddenly a lot made sense. He opened his mouth but Hinata was already speaking. 

“Okay, Gaara. That will be $14.56.”


End file.
